Overview

This joyous play, the last comedy of Shakespeare's career, sums up his stagecraft with a display of seemingly effortless skill. Prospero, exiled Duke of Milan, living on an enchanted island, has the opportunity to punish and forgive his enemies when he raises a tempest that drives them ashore—as well as to forestall a rebellion, to arrange the meeting of his daughter, Miranda, with an eminently suitable young prince, and, more important, to relinquish his magic powers in recognition of his advancing age. Richly ...

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Overview

This joyous play, the last comedy of Shakespeare's career, sums up his stagecraft with a display of seemingly effortless skill. Prospero, exiled Duke of Milan, living on an enchanted island, has the opportunity to punish and forgive his enemies when he raises a tempest that drives them ashore—as well as to forestall a rebellion, to arrange the meeting of his daughter, Miranda, with an eminently suitable young prince, and, more important, to relinquish his magic powers in recognition of his advancing age. Richly filled with music and magic, romance and comedy, the play's theme of love and reconciliation offers a splendid feast for the senses and the heart.

Related Subjects

Meet the Author

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in April 1564, and his birth is traditionally celebrated on April 23. The facts of his life, known from surviving documents, are sparse. He was one of eight children born to John Shakespeare, a merchant of some standing in his community. William probably went to the King’s New School in Stratford, but he had no university education. In November 1582, at the age of eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway, eight years his senior, who was pregnant with their first child, Susanna. She was born on May 26, 1583. Twins, a boy, Hamnet ( who would die at age eleven), and a girl, Judith, were born in 1585. By 1592 Shakespeare had gone to London working as an actor and already known as a playwright. A rival dramatist, Robert Greene, referred to him as “an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers.” Shakespeare became a principal shareholder and playwright of the successful acting troupe, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men (later under James I, called the King’s Men). In 1599 the Lord Chamberlain’s Men built and occupied the Globe Theater in Southwark near the Thames River. Here many of Shakespeare’s plays were performed by the most famous actors of his time, including Richard Burbage, Will Kempe, and Robert Armin. In addition to his 37 plays, Shakespeare had a hand in others, including Sir Thomas More and The Two Noble Kinsmen, and he wrote poems, including Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece. His 154 sonnets were published, probably without his authorization, in 1609. In 1611 or 1612 he gave up his lodgings in London and devoted more and more time to retirement in Stratford, though he continued writing such plays as The Tempest and Henry VII until about 1613. He died on April 23 1616, and was buried in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford. No collected edition of his plays was published during his life-time, but in 1623 two members of his acting company, John Heminges and Henry Condell, put together the great collection now called the First Folio.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter 1

list of parts

PROSPERO, the right Duke of Milan MIRANDA, his daughter ALONSO, King of Naples SEBASTIAN, his brother ANTONIO, Prospero's brother, the usurping Duke of Milan FERDINAND, son to the King of Naples GONZALO, an honest old councillor ADRIAN and FRANCISCO, lords TRINCULO, a jester STEPHANO, a drunken butler MASTER, of a ship BOATSWAIN MARINERS CALIBAN, a savage and deformed slave ARIEL, an airy spirit IRIS, CERES, JUNO, spirits commanded by Prospero playing roles of NYMPHS, REAPERS

The Scene: an uninhabited island

Act 1 Scene 1running scene 1

A tempestuous noise of thunder and lightning heard. Enter a Shipmaster and a Boatswain

BOATSWAIN Do you not hear him? You mar our labour. Keep your cabins! You do assist the storm.

GONZALO Nay, good, be patient.

BOATSWAIN When the sea is. Hence! What cares these roarers for the name of king? To cabin! Silence! Trouble us not.

GONZALO Good, yet remember whom thou hast aboard.

BOATSWAIN None that I more love than myself. You are a counsellor: if you can command these elements to silence, and work the peace of the present, we will not hand a rope more: use your authority. If you cannot, give thanks you have lived so long, and make yourself ready in your cabin for the mischance of the hour, if it so hap.- Cheerly, good hearts!- Out of our way, I say.

Exeunt [Boatswain with Mariners, followed by Alonso, Sebastian, Antonio and Ferdinand]

GONZALO I have great comfort from this fellow: methinks he hath no drowning mark upon him: his complexion is perfect gallows. Stand fast, good Fate, to his hanging: make the rope of his destiny our cable, for our own doth little advantage. If he be not born to be hanged, our case is miserable. Exit

Enter Boatswain

BOATSWAIN Down with the topmast! Yare! Lower, lower! Bring her to try with main course. (A cry within) A plague upon this howling! They are louder than the weather or our office.

Enter Sebastian, Antonio and Gonzalo

Yet again? What do you here? Shall we give o'er and drown? Have you a mind to sink?

GONZALO Now would I give a thousand furlongs of sea for an acre of barren ground: long heath, brown furze, anything. The wills above be done! But I would fain die a dry death.

Exit

Act 1 Scene 2running scene 2

Enter Prospero and Miranda

MIRANDA If by your art, my dearest father, you have Put the wild waters in this roar, allay them.
The sky, it seems, would pour down stinking pitch,
But that the sea, mounting to th'welkin's cheek,
Dashes the fire out. O, I have suffered With those that I saw suffer: a brave vessel -
Who had, no doubt, some noble creature in her -
Dashed all to pieces. O, the cry did knock Against my very heart. Poor souls, they perished.
Had I been any god of power, I would Have sunk the sea within the earth, or ere It should the good ship so have swallowed, and The fraughting souls within her.

PROSPERO No harm:
I have done nothing but in care of thee -
Of thee, my dear one, thee, my daughter - who Art ignorant of what thou art: nought knowing Of whence I am, nor that I am more better Than Prospero, master of a full poor cell,
And thy no greater father.

MIRANDA More to know Did never meddle with my thoughts.

PROSPERO 'Tis time I should inform thee further. Lend thy hand And pluck my magic garment from me. So:
Lie there, my art. Wipe thou thine eyes, have his magic cloak comfort.
The direful spectacle of the wreck, which touched The very virtue of compassion in thee,
I have with such provision in mine art So safely ordered that there is no soul -
No, not so much perdition as an hair Betid to any creature in the vessel Which thou heard'st cry, which thou saw'st sink. Sit down, [Miranda sits]
For thou must now know further.

MIRANDA You have often Begun to tell me what I am, but stopped And left me to a bootless inquisition,
Concluding 'Stay: not yet.'

PROSPERO The hour's now come,
The very minute bids thee ope thine ear:
Obey, and be attentive. Canst thou remember A time before we came unto this cell?
I do not think thou canst, for then thou wast not Out three years old.

MIRANDA Certainly, sir, I can.

PROSPERO By what? By any other house or person?
Of any thing the image, tell me, that Hath kept with thy remembrance.

MIRANDA 'Tis far off,
And rather like a dream than an assurance That my remembrance warrants. Had I not Four or five women once that tended me?

PROSPERO Thou hadst; and more, Miranda. But how is it That this lives in thy mind? What see'st thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time?
If thou rememb'rest aught ere thou cam'st here,
How thou cam'st here thou mayst.

MIRANDA But that I do not.

PROSPERO Twelve year since, Miranda, twelve year since,
Thy father was the Duke of Milan and A prince of power.

MIRANDA Sir, are not you my father?

PROSPERO Thy mother was a piece of virtue, and She said thou wast my daughter; and thy father Was Duke of Milan, and his only heir And princess, no worse issued.

MIRANDA O the heavens!
What foul play had we, that we came from thence?
Or blessèd wast we did?

MIRANDA O, my heart bleeds To think o'th'teen that I have turned you to,
Which is from my remembrance. Please you, further.

PROSPERO My brother and thy uncle, called Antonio -
I pray thee, mark me - that a brother should Be so perfidious - he whom next thyself Of all the world I loved, and to him put The manage of my state, as at that time Through all the signories it was the first,
And Prospero the prime duke, being so reputed In dignity, and for the liberal arts Without a parallel; those being all my study,
The government I cast upon my brother And to my state grew stranger, being transported And rapt in secret studies. Thy false uncle -
Dost thou attend me?

MIRANDA Sir, most heedfully.

PROSPERO Being once perfected how to grant suits,
How to deny them, who t'advance and who To trash for over-topping, new created The creatures that were mine, I say, or changed 'em,
Or else new formed 'em; having both the key Of officer and office, set all hearts i'th'state To what tune pleased his ear, that now he was The ivy which had hid my princely trunk And sucked my verdure out on't.- Thou attend'st not.

MIRANDA O good sir, I do.

PROSPERO I pray thee, mark me:
I, thus neglecting worldly ends, all dedicated To closeness and the bettering of my mind With that, which but by being so retired,
O'er-prized all popular rate, in my false brother Awaked an evil nature, and my trust,
Like a good parent, did beget of him A falsehood in its contrary, as great As my trust was, which had indeed no limit,
A confidence sans bound. He being thus lorded,
Not only with what my revenue yielded,
But what my power might else exact: like one Who having into truth, by telling of it,
Made such a sinner of his memory To credit his own lie, he did believe He was indeed the duke, out o'th'substitution And executing th'outward face of royalty With all prerogative: hence his ambition growing -
Dost thou hear?

MIRANDA Your tale, sir, would cure deafness.

PROSPERO To have no screen between this part he played,
And him he played it for, he needs will be Absolute Milan. Me - poor man - my library Was dukedom large enough: of temporal royalties He thinks me now incapable. Confederates -
So dry he was for sway - wi'th'King of Naples To give him annual tribute, do him homage,
Subject his coronet to his crown, and bend The dukedom yet unbowed - alas, poor Milan -
To most ignoble stooping.

MIRANDA O the heavens!

PROSPERO Mark his condition and th'event, then tell me If this might be a brother.

MIRANDA I should sin To think but nobly of my grandmother:
Good wombs have borne bad sons.

PROSPERO Now the condition.
This King of Naples, being an enemy To me inveterate, hearkens my brother's suit,
Which was, that he, in lieu o'th'premises Of homage, and I know not how much tribute,
Should presently extirpate me and mine Out of the dukedom, and confer fair Milan,
With all the honours, on my brother: whereon,
A treacherous army levied, one midnight Fated to th'purpose, did Antonio open The gates of Milan, and i'th'dead of darkness The ministers for th'purpose hurried thence Me and thy crying self.

MIRANDA Alack, for pity!
I, not rememb'ring how I cried out then,
Will cry it o'er again: it is a hint That wrings mine eyes to't.

PROSPERO Hear a little further,
And then I'll bring thee to the present business Which now's upon's: without the which, this story Were most impertinent.

MIRANDA Wherefore did they not That hour destroy us?

PROSPERO Well demanded, wench:
My tale provokes that question. Dear, they durst not,
So dear the love my people bore me: nor set A mark so bloody on the business: but With colours fairer, painted their foul ends.
In few, they hurried us aboard a barque,
Bore us some leagues to sea, where they prepared A rotten carcass of a butt, not rigged,
Nor tackle, sail, nor mast: the very rats Instinctively have quit it. There they hoist us,
To cry to th'sea that roared to us; to sigh To th'winds, whose pity sighing back again,
Did us but loving wrong.

MIRANDA Alack, what trouble Was I then to you!

PROSPERO O, a cherubin Thou wast that did preserve me. Thou didst smile,
Infusèd with a fortitude from heaven,
When I have decked the sea with drops full salt,
Under my burden groaned, which raised in me An undergoing stomach, to bear up Against what should ensue.

MIRANDA How came we ashore?

PROSPERO By providence divine.
Some food we had, and some fresh water, that A noble Neapolitan, Gonzalo,
Out of his charity - who being then appointed Master of this design - did give us, with Rich garments, linens, stuffs and necessaries,
Which since have steaded much. So, of his gentleness,
Knowing I loved my books, he furnished me From mine own library with volumes that I prize above my dukedom.

MIRANDA Would I might But ever see that man.

PROSPERO Now I arise: Prospero stands Sit still, and hear the last of our sea-sorrow.
Here in this island we arrived, and here Have I, thy schoolmaster, made thee more profit Than other princes can that have more time For vainer hours, and tutors not so careful.

MIRANDA Heavens thank you for't. And now, I pray you,
sir,
For still 'tis beating in my mind: your reason For raising this sea-storm?

ARIEL All hail, great master! Grave sir, hail! I come To answer thy best pleasure; be't to fly,
To swim, to dive into the fire, to ride On the curled clouds: to thy strong bidding task Ariel and all his quality.

PROSPERO Hast thou, spirit,
Performed to point the tempest that I bade thee?

ARIEL To every article.
I boarded the king's ship: now on the beak,
Now in the waist, the deck, in every cabin,
I flamed amazement: sometime I'd divide And burn in many places; on the topmast,
The yards and bowsprit would I flame distinctly,
Then meet and join. Jove's lightning, the precursors O'th'dreadful thunderclaps, more momentary And sight-outrunning were not; the fire and cracks Of sulphurous roaring, the most mighty Neptune Seem to besiege and make his bold waves tremble,
Yea, his dread trident shake.

PROSPERO My brave spirit!
Who was so firm, so constant, that this coil Would not infect his reason?

ARIEL Not a soul But felt a fever of the mad and played Some tricks of desperation. All but mariners Plunged in the foaming brine and quit the vessel,
Then all afire with me: the king's son, Ferdinand,
With hair up-staring - then like reeds, not hair -
Was the first man that leaped; cried 'Hell is empty And all the devils are here.'

PROSPERO Why, that's my spirit!
But was not this nigh shore?

ARIEL Close by, my master.

PROSPERO But are they, Ariel, safe?

ARIEL Not a hair perished:
On their sustaining garments not a blemish,
But fresher than before: and, as thou bad'st me,
In troops I have dispersed them 'bout the isle.
The king's son have I landed by himself,
Whom I left cooling of the air with sighs In an odd angle of the isle, and sitting,
His arms in this sad knot. [Folds his arms]

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First Shakespeare I ever read.

The reason I read this play was because of personal reasons. My ancestor Stephen Hopkins was aboard the Sea Venture in which influenced this play. Good read. Derek D

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted September 15, 2006

Brilliant

William Shakespeare's play The Tempest, is one of the best play i have read so far. In this play, Shakespeare conveys numerous things that relates to the real world. This play is not a easy play to understand. It takes time to know what's happening in each scene. Moreover, the reader needs to analyze each line carefully so he/she can understand what each line means.Over all, The tempest is a great play to read, and i am really sure that once your finished with the play, you would want to read another play by shakespeare.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted May 5, 2001

great book, take your time with it and understand it!!!!!

You need to take your time because if you rush into it you will not get the full effect as you will if you would take your time and understand. I think that you should read this and act out some of your favorite scenes!!! Just have FUN!!

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted October 10, 2011

I highly recommend it!

I personally feel that of all of Shakespeare's works, the language in The Tempest is one of the easiest to understand. That being said, the notes and meanings given on the left-hand pages helped immensely while reading. I will ALWAYS buy Barnes and Noble Shakespeare.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted January 26, 2015

Mason

He claps.

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Anonymous

Posted January 26, 2015

Aliviya

"Guys? I'm gonna turn in for the night. My head is throbbing and my eyes are hurting really bad. I love you Mason. Everyone else goodnight" She falls on a pew falling asleep.

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Anonymous

Posted January 27, 2015

Raven

"That's good"

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Anonymous

Posted January 26, 2015

S

She rubs her eyes before clapping.

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Anonymous

Posted January 26, 2015

Perrin

He pulls away, just to bring her into a hug.

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Anonymous

Posted January 27, 2015

Bree

"Good." She nods.

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Anonymous

Posted November 7, 2014

TeenSpirit17

Hello?

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted May 13, 2014

A pitteris heard

A kit bag with a black with red fur scattered around him is at the entrance. There is a note saying,"Please take him." He mews softly and sleeps randomly.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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Cynder

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Anonymous

Posted May 18, 2014

Brokenstar

I am sorry, but I have had to quit RP due to snooping mom. The next leader will be Cry. You have my blessing. She meowed and bounded out of camp. ~Brokenstar

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted May 8, 2014

Paris

"Thank you," she says quietly, padding to a secluded area of camp, quiet. She sighs gently and looks around. [Otay.]

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Anonymous

Posted May 8, 2014

To princess

Her kit pushes around.

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Anonymous

Posted May 8, 2014

The tomcat

"Well..well..well. if it isnt my beautiful slave."*he laughs evily. He then traps her to the ground and then lays on her. He ran hi toungue up her throat. He then circled his tail on her sweet spot. He then gets off and then pounces on her aain and starts to hump her

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted May 7, 2014

@

A pair of golden eyes watches from the shadows...

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted May 8, 2014

Vix to Frost

(( True feelings come out! DX ))

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Anonymous

Posted May 7, 2014

A white cat

Sits in the shadows. She has one black paws and stunning crystal blue eyes

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